Method of changing yarn supply in a tufting machine

ABSTRACT

A method of changing the yarn supply in a fabric material tufting machine wherein the needle bars of the machine are selectively detachable so that the machine can continue operation while one of the needle bars receives a replacement yarn supply. The changing of the yarn supply by this method involve stopping of the tufting machine only during actual detaching and reattaching of the needle bars.

United States Patent [191 Norris et al.

[451 Dec. 4, 1973 METHODOF CHANGING YARN SUPPLY IN A TUFIING MACHINE [75] Inventors: Alan H. Norris, Simpsonville;

William R. Lacy, Greenville, both of [21] Appl. No.: 293,935

Fedevich .i 1 12/79 R 3,172,380 3/1965 Boyles 112/266 X 3,402,686 9/1968 Rodstein et al. 1 12/79 R 3,650,228 3/1972 Lynch 112/79 R Primary Examiner-James R. Boler AttorneyMilton .1. Wayne et al.

[5 7] ABSTRACT A method of changing the yarn supply in a fabric material tufting machine wherein the needle bars of the machine are selectively detachable so that the machine can continue operation while one of the needle bars receives a replacement yarn supply. The'chaging of the yarn supply by this method involve stopping of the tufting machine only during actual detaching and re-attaching of the needle bars.

7 Claims, 2 Drawing Figures [52] US. Cl 112/266, 112/79 R, 112/226 [51] Int. Cl D05c 3/00, D05c 15/12 [58] Field of Search 112/79 R, 79 A, 266, 112/226, 225, 224

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,833,236 5/1958 Simone 112/226 METHOD OF CHANGING YARN SUPPLY IN A TUFTING MACHINE BROAD STATEMENT OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a method of changing the yarn supply in a tufting machine and is primarily concerned with the provision of maintaining the operation of the tufting machine whilethe supply is being changed. I

DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART In the prior art when it was necessary to replenish or change the source of yarn supply in a tufting machine having multiple needle units, considerable down-time was involved. In a machine of this nature which is involved in tufting a base fabric, such as floor covering, as shown for example in US. Pat. No. 3,633,523, issued Jan. ll, 1972 to Roy T. Card, the supply source can be a beam or a creel. When it is desired to replenish or replace the yarn supply, it was necessary to stop the machine operation for a period of hours, particularly when multiple needle bars are involved, since each change of the yarn supply required a severing-of the yarn sheet, a placement of the fresh yarn supply ora changed yarn supply, and a reuniting of the yarn supply sheet with the yarn sheet'threaded through the needles. Tufted pile fabrics can be produced rapidly and'at low cost on tufting machines of the multiple needle type, but an undesirable length of downtime to change the yarn supply results in a substantial loss of production. Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to replenish or change the yarn supply with the shortest possible downtime.

DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION the yarn supply in a tufting machine utilizing selectively detachable needle bars.

Inthe present invention a methodis providedof changing the yarn supply in a multiple needle tufting machine by detaching needle bars that are separately mounted on the machine.

Another provision of the present invention is ,a-

There is further provided in the present invention a method of changing the yarn supply in a multiple needle tufting machine wherein the machine is stopped only to detach a selected needle bar that is placed on a fixed support for changing the yarn supply and allowing the machine to commence operation 'whileth'e selected needle bar is fastened on the support for the-- changing procedure.

In one embodiment of the present invention a plurality of individual needle bars are mounted to be reciprocated in a machine for tufting base fabric. The individual needle bars are mounted on the machine in a detachablc manner. When the yarn supplyto an individual needle bar is to be changed or replenished, the machine is momentarily stopped so that such individual needle bar can be detached and placed on a separate fixed support element. Tufting operation of the machine is thencommenced while the yarnsupply is being changed or replenished for the detached needle bar that is mounted on the support. Since the machine is now continuing its operation with respect to the tufting provided by the needles of the needle bars still attached tothe machine, it is not a critical matter how long it takes to change or replenish the yarn supply to the detached needle bar since there is no machine down-time involved during the change. When the .change of the yarn supply has been completed, the machine is again momentarily stopped. The needle bar with'the new yarn'supply is then detached from the support and reattached to'the tufting machine, and the operation of the tufting machine is then again started. It will be appreciated that by this novel method the down-time of the machine only takes place during the detachment and re-attachment of an individual needle'bar.

The nature of the present invention will become more clearly apparent and better understood from the following description and accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic illustration, partly in section, of atufting machine of the present invention showing nee- 1 the tufting machine 10 includes a drive unit comprising a drive rod 12 eccentrically mounted on a rotary drive 14 to providevertically reciprocal motion to a base unit 16. Tufting machine 10 includes a plurality of needle bars of which two are shown in the illustrated embodiment. Needle bar 18 shown on the right-hand side of the drawing includes a bar base 20 from which project a plurality of needles 22. It is understood that needle bar 18 extends longitudinally in a manner perpendicular to the paper of the drawing so that the needles 22 are in longitudinal alignment. Needle bar 18 includes fastening means which are shown as horizontal projections or rails 24 that-extend outwardly from vertical sides of bar 18. It is understood that that the projections 24 are merely illustrative of a type of fastening means for needle bar 18, and other types of fastening means well known in the prior art-can be utilized to mount needle bar 18 on base 16 so that they will reciprocate together. As" illustrated, base 16 includes grooves 42, juxtaposed and corresponding to adjacent projections 24, and clamping means are provided, such as screws 26, that can be tightened to clamp base 16 and needle bar 18 together.

A support 28 is mounted on a fixed part of machine 10 and spaced from the reciprocating base 16. Fixed as shown in FIG. 2. Clamping means, shown as screws 32, mounted in support 28 can then be tightened to clamp needle bar 18 and support 28 together. i

It is a primary feature of this invention that needle bar 18 is detachable from the reciprocating base 18 and then moved to be attached to support element 28 to be fixed in position while the tufting operation continues.

On the left-hand side of the drawing appears a needle bar 34 formed in the same manner as described above for needle bar 18. Needle bar 34 includes a base bar 36 and longitudinally aligned needles 38. Additionally, needle bar 34 includes projections 40 mounted on either side of the needle bar, and it is to be noted that base 16 includes further grooves 43 on the left-hand side thereof that correspond with projections 40 to establish the clamping arrangement. I

Spaced from reciprocal base 16 on the left-hand side is a fixed support 44 which is formed in the same manner as support 28 and functions in the same manner. Support 44 includes grooves 46 similar to grooves 30 and clamping means 48 that are similar to clamping means 32. Further with respect to the lefthand side of base 16 clamping means 49 are provided that are similar to and operate in the same manner as screws 26.

Different types of supply means are shown for the respective needles 22 and 38. For needles 22 a beam 50 mounted on a stand 52 carries a supply of yarn 54 through guide rollers 56 and 58 to be threaded through needles 22.

The yarn supply for needles 3 8 isprovided by acreel 60 having a plurality of supply spools 62 which feed different yarns through guide rollers 64 and 68 into a passage unit 70 to become a single yarn 72 fed to needles 38.

The base fabric such as a floor covering 74 is fed to tufting maching on a base support 76. Positioned below base. support 76 in respective correspondence with needles 22 and 38 are loopers 78 which operate in a conventional manner. Adjacent the loopers 78 on the right-hand side of the drawing in correspondence with needles 22 are cutters 80. Accordingly, it is seen that the reciprocal action of needles 38 in conjunction with its respective loopers 78 will form loops 82 from the yarn 72. Due to the presence of cutter 80, the combination of needles 22 with its respective loopers 78 produce cut ends 84 as shown in FIG. 1.

The operation of the novel method of changing the yarn supply will now be described. As mentioned previously base 16 of tufting machine 10 reciprocates so that needles 22 and 38 pass through fabric 74 when both needle bars 18 and 34 are mounted thereon as shown in FIG. 1. It is to be understood that needle bar 18 and needle bar 34 can operate for different purposes to produce tufted fabric. For example, only one needle bar may operate at a time, as explained hereinafter, to tuft the same fabric or each needle bar can tuft a different type of fabric, and as shown in FIG. 1, needle bar 18 is producing cut tufts while needle bar 34 is producing looped tufts. When the yarn supply to a needle bar is to be replenished or changed, such as for example when supply is exhausted, the reciprocal motion of base 16 is stopped. The time of stoppage is of short duration, merely sufficient for the release of the clamping means 26 and detachment of needle bar 18 as shown in FIG. 2. Needle bar 18 is then moved laterally away from base 16, and the reciprocal motion of base 16 is again commenced so that needle bar 34 continues its tufting operation. Needle bar 18 is then moved to the position shown in FIG. 2 where it is fastened to support 28 by means of screws 32. In this position the yarn 54 can be severed; exhausted supply unit 50 removed, and a new supply unit 86 installed to replace unit 50. Supply unit 86 includes a yarn 88, and yarn 88 is then fed through guide rollers'56 and 58 to needles 22. At that time the reciprocating motion of base .16 is again stopped; needle bar.l8 is released from fixed support 28 and moved laterally to be again mounted on base 16 in the position shown in FIG. 1. The reciprocal motion of machine 10 is then again started with needle bar 18 effecting the tufting with the new yarn supply.

The replenishing of the yarn supply to needle bar 34 is effected in a similar manner and can be accomplished while needle bar 18 continues its tufting operation. This is provided by stopping the reciprocating motion of'base 16; moving needle bar 34 laterally to be attached to fixed support 44; then again starting the reciprocal motion of base 16 while one or more of spools 62 is replaced and fed into needles 38. When the new or changed yarn supply is fed into needles 38, the reciprocal operation of tufting machine 10 is then stopped and needle bar 34 moved to be again mounted on base 16 followed by the starting of the reciprocal operation and tufting by all of the needle bars.

The above description illustrates the novel method of changing or replenishing the yarn supply with a minimum of downtime for the tufting machine since the machine need only be stopped during the detachment and re-attachment of the needle bars.

In the illustrated embodiment a pair of needle bars are shown, one operating with a looper to produce looped tufts and the other operating with a looper and a cutterelement to produce cut tufts. Accordingly, it will be appreciated that difierent needle bars can be operating separately, and one attached needle bar can be used to produce fabric or both attached needle bars can be used at the same time to produce fabric. The yarn feed for the yamsupply can be controlled by any of knownpattem attachments such as multiple feed rolls, slat pattern attachments, individual. tension devices for each pile yarn and other known devices. As mentioned previously, the tufting machine of the invention can have both detachable needle bars tufting the same fabric or each detachable needle bar tufting a dif ferent type of fabric. i

Although the fastening means for detachably securing the needle bar in the carrier is shown by means of projections held in grooves with clamping means, other conventional holding devices can be utilized so that no specific fastening or clamping means is considered to be an essential feature of the invention as long as the detachable feature is present.

The detachable needle bars may be of any known gauge, and one or both could be of the sliding needle bar type. The needle bars can be staggered to that one needle bar is out of alignment with respect to the other needle bar. Further, the needle bars could be in alignment with the tufts of one needle bar being inserted between the tufts formed by the other needle bar.

It is to be understood that a short length of tufted backing may be of low quality after the new supply of yarn has been added and the tufting is resumed. However, such short length is removable in the finishing operation.

It will be understood that various changes and modifications may be made by those skilled in the art with respect to the particular embodiment of the method of changing the yarn supply in a tufting machine which has been described above with departing from the scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

What is claimed is:

1. Method of changing yarn supply in an operating fabric material tufting machine having at least a pair of needle bars fed with yarn from separate yarn supply units and mounted to be detachable from reciprocating individual carriers on the machine comprising stopping the operation of the tufting machine;

severing the yarn being fed from one of the supply units to one of the needle bars;

detaching the one needle bar from its mounting on its carrier;

moving the one detached needle bar to a holding position;

commencing operation of the tufting machine;

replacing the one yarn supply unit with another yarn supply unit and connecting the replaced yarn supply to the one detached needle bar;

stopping the operation of the tufting machine;

moving the one detached needle bar to be remounted on its carrier; and

commencing operation of the tufting machine.

2. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which the one detached needle bar is moved from its carrier to be held in a support that is fixed on the machine.

3. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which the other needle bar is maintained in its mounting on its carrier and continues the tufting operation while the one detached needle bar receives the replacement new yarn supply.

4. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 3 in which the other needle bar is detached from its carrier for replacing its yarn supply after the one needle bar has its yarn supply replaced, and said one needle bar is operable to continue tufting while said other needle bar receives the replacement yarn supply.

5. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which the yarn supply to the one needle bar is provided by a beam roll, and the yarn supply to the other needle bar is supplied by acreel.

6. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which more than a pair of needle bars are provided, and all of the needle bars except the one needle bar receiving the replacement yarn supply maintain the tufting operation. I

7. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 2 in which each individual needle bar is held in a its carrier by fastening means and movable to the fixed support to be held by further fastening means. 

1. Method of changing yarn supply in an operating fabric material tufting machine having at least a pair of needle bars fed with yarn from separate yarn supply units and mounted to be detachable from reciprocating individual carriers on the machine comprising stopping the operation of the tufting machine; severing the yarn being fed from one of the supply units to one of the needle bars; detaching the one needle bar from its mounting on its carrier; moving the one detached needle bar to a holding position; commencing operation of the tufting machine; replacing the one yarn supply unit with another yarn supply unit and connecting the replaced yarn supply to the one detached needle bar; stopping the operation of the tufting machine; moving the one detached needle bar to be remounted on its carrier; and commencing operation of the tufting machine.
 2. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which the one detached needle bar is moved from its carrier to be held in a support that is fixed on the machine.
 3. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which the other needle bar is maintained in its mounting on its carrier and continues the tufting operation while the one detached needle bar receives the replacement new yarn supply.
 4. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 3 in which the other needle bar is detached from its carrier for replacing its yarn supply after the one needle bar has its yarn supply replaced, and said one needle bar is operable to continue tufting while said other needle bar receives the replacement yarn supply.
 5. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which the yarn supply to the one needle bar is provided by a beam roll, and the yarn supply to the other needle bar is supplied by a creel.
 6. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 1 in which more than a pair of needle bars are provided, and all of the needle bars except the one needle bar receiving the replacement yarn supply maintain the tufting operation.
 7. Method of changing yarn supply according to claim 2 in which each individual needle bar is held in its carrier by fastening means and movable to the fixed support to be held by further fastening means. 